Various medical procedures require the introduction of one or more medical instruments into arteries or veins so that the medical instruments may be advanced to a body location requiring diagnosis or treatment. For example, a guide catheter may be advanced through the patient's vasculature to a desired treatment location, such as the right atrium of the patient's heart, for delivery of a cardiac lead. A mechanism (e.g., a hemostasis valve) including a hemostasis seal may be located at the proximal end of the guide catheter to control or inhibit the flow of blood out of the guide catheter lumen. A cardiac lead or other device (e.g., a guide wire) may be inserted through the seal and the guide catheter lumen and into the patient's vasculature, and the seal inhibits blood flow around the lead.
The seal should accommodate medical devices (e.g., leads, catheters and guide wires) of varying diameters without unduly restricting the movement of the device, yet still effectively seal against the flow of bodily fluids. In addition, the seal may advantageously be designed to be splittable to facilitate removal of the guide catheter while leaving the inner medical device (e.g., guide wire or lead) in place in the patient's body.
Accordingly, there is a need for a splittable or cuttable hemostasis seal which effectively seals against leakage of bodily fluids without unduly resisting the insertion and retraction of elongated cylindrical medical devices of varying diameters.